Dimensional Heroes Legends: The Diabolical Box
by jexi the hunter
Summary: Our heroes return once more as they board the legendary train in order to solve the mystery behind one of the most deadly artifacts of all time.
1. The Elysian Box

We open our story up to a crowded train station station where people were boarding the most luxurious train in history: the Molentary Express. It is here our heroes have chosen to ride the rails with the professor and Luke as they solve a new mystery.

"Wow. Never thought I'd be riding on a classy train like this." Hope said. "And look at all the rich people here."

"Well, wouldn't expect any less considering the trains reputation. Look, I think I see Inspector Chelmey getting on as well." Jexi said.

"And thankfully it's the real one." Tails added as they got onboard.

"Time for some briefing. Luke and I are trying to solve the mystery of the Elysian Box." Layton said.

"The Elysian Box? I've read about that. Legend has it that anyone who opens the box...dies." Sci-Twi said.

"Dies? From opening a box?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes. Recently, the box was in the possession of my teacher: Dr. Schrader." Layton said.

"Dr. Schroeder?" Jexi asked in shock.

"You know the guy?" Natsu asked.

"Me and Sanji met him a while back during the Ambrosia incident." Jexi said.

"Anyway, he said his curiosity has gotten the better of him so he decided to look inside the box. He asked I finish his work if something happened to him. Naturally, me and Luke hurried to his flat. But, we arrived too late, he was lying on the floor with the very box missing from the room." Layton said.

"We got a train ticket anonymously and boarded it in hopes of going to where the other ticket we found at the crime scene leads." Luke said.

"A train ticket?" Jexi asked.

"Yes. Although, unfortunately, it has no clear destination of where it will lead us." Layton said.

A butler then showed up as the train was moving. "Excuse me Master Sanji, but I have our chef Clawitzer waiting for you in the dining car whenever you feel ready." the butler said.

"Perfect. He chickened out last time, so I need to get this out of the way." Sanji said.

"Sure. Guess we could head to the dining car first before we start doing investigating on the train." Kirito said.

Inside the Dining car, the heroes entered to see a lobster with a large claw.

"Please, step this way, everyone." Clawitzer said as Sanji came in. "Forgive my absence last time. But killing and cooking don't exactly mix, unless you are talking about killing animals for the ingredients." Clawitzer said.

"No worries, I know just how ya feel." Sanji said. "So, you do Fish courses, right? What's the challenge?"

"Well, for this one, we'll each be using the fish I have caught recently to prepare something wonderful for the rich people here. They will decide who cooked it better. First one to get ten likes will be the winner." Clawitzer said.

The fishes were unveiled one by one. "First, we have trout from Earthland, then we have a very slippery eel from Alabasta and then we have a wonderful Salmon from the northern American rivers." Clawitzer said. "And for the Piece de Resistance…. A fillet of super rare Madam Fish."

"Madam Fish? Arent those from Toriko's world?"

"Hey, I can't stick with one world, I gotta fish in all of them." Clawitzer said. "Now, I pick the Salmon, and you?"

"I'll go with the eel." Sanji grinned.

"Very good. Let the challenge begin! Bring it in!" Clawitzer said as the butlers brought in a small oven.

"That's a forger's oven. That's a piece of equipment used to properly heat anything, but you have to know the exact temp of how to cook." Sci-Twi said.

"You are well aware that we all have our specialities, mine is heating." Clawitzer said as he begun preparing his salmon, chopping it apart with his claws before placing it in said oven. Sanji did a different approach, cutting the eel up for Sushi.

"When you got eel, you do sushi, that's how I see it." Sanji said.

"I see. A nice and simple approach." Clawitzer said as he waited. "Ah. I hear it now, the sizzling of the salmon as it cooks to perfection, sealing in the wonderful heat."

The oven then dinged as Clawitzer took it out. "Behold! Salmon Confit Flambe!" he said.

The rich folk tasted it.

"I have never had such a wonder salmon in all of my life. The chef is a true genius." one of them said.

"The heat sort of is overdone. Perhaps adding more flavor is in order?" another said.

Sanji then finished his dish. "Sushi ala eel." Sanji grinned as he placed the dishes before the patrons.

"The eel truly is well cooked. When you taste the sauces that drip from its skin, making a wonderful coating to the meat." Sanji said as the patrons tasted a piece of the sushi before going wild and eating the rest.

"I...don't believe it. My heating tactic never fails." Clawitzer said.

"Sometimes the best strategy with fish is to use it as it is without changing its temperature." Sanji said.

"I see. I concede defeat. As for your upgrade, I will have a fish farm installed so you may raise even more wonderful fishes." Clawitzer said.

"Well, that ended on a fine note. Guess we could inspect the train while we wait to arrive at our next destination." Jexi said.

"I found something!" Indigo said looking to the ground and picking up a small shoe. 


	2. The Legendary Molentary Express

"A shoe? Who would lose something like that?" Happy asked.

"Oh! This is simply tragic!" shouted a voice in the nearby car.

The heroes ran to the car. "Lost your shoe, miss?" Sanji asked.

"Heavens no. As I was telling this detective, I'm missing my little boy!" she said.

"Yes. It seems this woman lost her son, Tom I believe." Chelmey said.

HOLD IT!

"Whoops, should've dialed back a bit." Indigo said. "I was practicing. Did you guys hear Mr. Wright is coming to London to take place in court?"

"Mr. who now?" Chelmey asked scratching his head.

"Phoenix Wright. The famous attorney?" Rainbow said.

"Must not be famous if I hadn't heard of him. But I got bigger cases than that. I gotta deal with the murder case and now a missing boy case." Chelmey said.

"Oh, so you admit that youre tracking down the case of the Elysian Box?" Sunset asked.

"Who else do ya think arrived at the crime scene first? Not Grosky ever since he got promoted for bringing in Targent." Chelmey said.

"Well, Chelmey, we're on that case too. What do you know so far?"Tails asked.

"All I can share are a few details. The old man was found dead in his flat, the box was stolen and the killer fled from the window. The only evidence left behind were the photo scraps, which I am holding onto." Chelmey said.

"You guys think it's Don Paolo?" Indigo asked.

"Hard to say. I could have been anyone." Jexi said.

"Now, why don't you do some real detective work and try and find if that boy is hiding on the train somewhere." Chelmey said as he walked off.

While the heroes looked for Tom, they were talking about Mr. Wright.

"I cant believe we are actually gonna see Mr. Wright! The actual Ace Attorney." Sunny said.

"I heard something about him coming over here for a Legal League of Attorney's exchange." Sunset said. "Apparently, they send an attorney from London to America and they do the same over there."

"You think that we can meet him as soon as we get back? I wanna see him in action, ooh, or maybe even join him in defending someone." Indigo said.

"Ah, so you're talking about a court of law, eh?" asked a new voice as they saw a short old man approach them. "An interesting topic you have there."

"I know you. You're Mr. Beluga. You own this entire railway." Sunset said.

"Oh. So you know about me do you? Well, sad to say I can't say the same about all of you." Beluga said.

"I see. We were just talking about Phoenix Wright, he's a bit of a celebrity back home." Sunset said.

"Is that so? Well, I hope you get to see him when the train makes its return trip in a few days." Beluga said as he walked off.

"I've been practicing Mr. Wrights catchphrases a lot. Like OBJECTION and TAKE THAT!" Indigo said as someone bumped into her while carrying a small dog. "Pardon me." she said as she went to the next car.

"Wait! DId you happen to lose this?" Indigo asked holding a small shoe.

"Sorry. Too small for my feet." she said shutting the door behind her.

After a while of searching the train, the heroes came up empty handed with only two more shoes and a small hat. Chelmey then approached them. "So, no luck, eh? Guess that leaves only the obvious, the child must have fallen off the train." Chelmey said.

"Wait a second, maybe these shoes and hat can give us some clues. Mr. Wright always finds the right thing." Indigo said.

"But how can they be clues? These shoes are obviously too small to fit on anyones feet, let alone a child." Nami said.

"Excuse me miss, but does your son carry around a doll?" Layton asked.

"Of course not. He's always a happy one, walking about on all fours." she said.

HOLD IT!

"If he still is around that age, then… got it!"

"So have I." Layton said. "The reason we are unable to find Tom, is because we're looking for the wrong species."

"And thats because hes a dog!" Luke added.

"What? I've been wasting my time trying to find someone's dog? I've got better things to do than that." Chelmey said walking off.

"Would this be your dog, miss?" Sanji said walking up with the girl from before. "We saw her carrying it with her."

The dog happily barked as it leapt out of the girls arms, knocking off her glasses and bandada, revealing her to be Flora.

"Oh my! You're Flora! Why are you here?" Rarity asked.

"I...didn't want to be left alone again." Flora said.

"Well then, we'll just have to be extra careful then, won't we?" Layton said smiling as Flora did the same.

"Now arriving in Dropstone! Come on passengers! Let me hear you scream!" the conductor said.

"Dropstone?" Usopp asked.

"It's a small farming village and I hear their celebrating the towns founding." Hope said.

"Let's stop and try to gather some info about the box. It might have passed by here." Jexi said.

"And maybe have some fun." Pinkie said. 


	3. The Country Village of Dropstone

The heroes got off at Dropstone and saw how lively it was.

"This reminds me of the festivals back home." Aladdin said. "I remember this one time when Morgiana danced, it was so amazing."

"Well, it's bound to be a bit different than what you're used to. This town is celebrating it fifty years of founding. As it turns out, its founder's has an interest in the box as well." Layton said.

"Can we hold off on that for a bit? I wanna do a little exploring and have some fun!" Pinkie said.

"Pinkie, look out!" Sunset said as a Nebula member almost squashed her. He had burners on his hands and on his head.

"What up, chickies? The names BurnerMan!" he said.

"Not another Fire Robot master! Megaman, how many of those did wily make?"

"Wily? Who's that? My maker is Amadeus Flux and my true leader is ShadeMan." Burnerman said.

"I think she was asking me." Mega man said. "Wily made all of you, remember?"

"Sorry. No idea who that is. I only know what I remember." Burner Man said. "And what I remember is an order to find the box and burn down this stupid village."

"Not on our watch! Who's got this one?" Hope asked the group.

"He's a fire robot, so I'll take him." Juvia said. "I need something to take my mind off that vampire hussy."

"A chick? Sorry bros. I don't fight chicks." Burnerman said.

Gray then stepped up. "I dont suppose I could be your opponent then, right?"

"You I got no problem burning." Burnerman said as his burners revved up.

"Yeah, just try it, hot head." Gray said as ice gathered in his hands.

"Wave Burner!"

"Ice Make: Saucer!"

The two attacks then cancelled each other out making a shroud of mist. The group looked to see the townsfolk cheering for this.

"They must think we're street performers or something." Jexi said.

"I'm gonna try to get in close and disable his Firewall, cover me!" Tails said before he found himself trapped in a bubble.

"You arent going anywhere! So says Bubble Man!" Bubble Man said as he hopped out of the bushes. "Besides, you couldn't hack it even if you tried. There's a super secret password lock on his main control box." Bubble Man said posing.

"Gray, just get rid of him. I don't need his weapon badly anyway!" Megaman said as Gray smirked.

"Good enough for me." Gray said making a large hammer over Burner Man. "Ice Make: Hammer!" he shouted smashing the hammer down on Burner Man. The robot barely held on.

"Dang. These guys really are no joke." Burner Man said.

"Then there's only one course of action left." Bubble man said as he and Burner Man posed. "Run away!" they shouted running off.

After the two ran, the crowd was cheering for the heroes as they tossed money at them.

"Thank you, thank you! We'll be here for the next three hours." Vector said as he collected the money.

Hope then had an idea. "Does anybody know if the the towns founder really did search for the Elysian box?"

After Hope had said this, the town went silent as a lone man approached the group. "Maybe you should come with me." he said as the escorted the heroes to a large mansion. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Mr. Anderson, I'm the mayor of this humble village and son of the founder herself." he introduced himself. "Though not literal son, son in law. But she raised me like I were one of her own. She tried to search for that box for years now, though we never really knew what the reason was."

"Who's searching for it now?"Luke asked.

"I suppose that would be my daughter, Katia. She left home last night in order to board the train. Our founder, Sophia, she passed away last year, though we never knew if she ever found the box." Mr. Anderson said.

"Oh. Sorry to hear about your loss." Fluttershy said.

"Its alright. She lived a long life and I'm glad I met her." Mr. Anderson said. "Her Grandaughter, Katia, is doing it now. Promise me if you do end up seeing her, tell her, her father wants her to come home." Mr. Anderson said.

As the heroes left the mansion and reentered the town, one of them noticed something. "Uh, has anyone seen Flora?" Rainbow asked as they noticed her missing.

"We must have lost her in the crowd by accident." Chopper said.

"I'm here!" Flora said running back to them. "Sorry. I got lost in the crowd. But, I met someone who knows something about the box, a Delibird delivering mail on the train."

The heroes hurried to the train where they saw a lone Delibird gathering mail before seeing them and glaring at Hope. "Well look who it is. Mr. Lousy Tipper." he said.

"Look. I'm sorry about before. But is there any way we can get info out of you?" Hope asked.

"Not to you. I'm too busy gathering sweepstakes tickets to defend in court with some lawyer." Delibird said.

"AAAAH!" Indigo Zap said. "I won, I won!"

"Hey! No tampering with the mail!" Delibird shouted.

"No,no, this is for me! I won a chance to defend with Phoenix Wright!" Indigo squealed.

"Wow. I didn't know you were into law so much." Jexi said.

"Let see what you got." Hope said. "You have the honor of helping phoenix wright defend in London for his trial." he read.

"I know. Awesome right? I love it already! You guys have got to be excited about this right?" Indigo asked.

"Wow, she's just as excited about Wright as Juvia is about Gray." Hope said.

"Wait, you're Juvia? Perfect, I got something for you." Delibird said handing a letter to the water woman.

"This is a bill for the destruction of that castle." Juvia said before noticing the bird was gone as they saw him flying off. "Sorry! No givebacks!" he shouted.  
"Oh, come on it cant be that…. oh my god!" Hope said. It was priced at a million dollars.

"Yeah! You Fairy Tail jerks are my biggest cash cow when it comes to bill deliveries!" Delibird shouted. He then flew off.

"Wait till Makarov gets his hands on this. He's gonna have a heart attack." Erza said.

"Wait, we forgot to ask him about the box." Sunny realized.

"Well, we'd better get going, trains about to leave." Jexi said as they noticed a lone girl getting a send off as she got onto the train.

"That must be Mr. Anderson's daughter." Sci-Twi said.

"Hey, hold up! Your father says to-" Fluttershy began before the door closed behind the girl.

She sighed as the group got back onto the train as it pulled out of the station. 


	4. The Dividing Path

The heroes waited in their quarters as they decided what to do next. "According to the route, our next destination is Luxurybelle." Jexi said looking at the map.

"Well, we need more info about the box though. Mr. Anderson helped a bit, but we need a way to know more." Luke said.

"You know, we haven't checked everywhere on the train. We haven't gone up to the first class cars yet." Weiss said.

"Hey, your Schnee records got you a ticket there, maybe you could take one of us up there." Rarity said.

"Or I could convince the conductor to take all of us up there." Weiss said.

"Better." Jexi said.

"So Indigo, I didnt know you were into law studies so much." Sci-Twi said.

"Law studies? I'm just into Mr. Wright a lot. I've always wanted to see him up close in a court." Indigo said.

"He turns the courtroom into a major thing whenever he defends someone." Sunset said.

"And when the real culprit is found, they break down in hilarity." Indigo said.

"If you wanted to see Wright in court, you could have just used the time machine on the ship to go back in time to see them." Tails said.

"This is better. Indigo actually is able to stand by Phoenix and Maya and defend any sort of person." Sunny said.

"Oh yeah. But I will keep that idea in check." Indigo said as they approached Sammy, the conductor of the train. "Hey, what up my loyal passengers?" he asked them.

"Hi, we were wondering if Wiess could get us all upgrades to First Class." Roll said.

"Hmm. I might be able to pull some strings, but you gotta do something for me first." Sammy said as he pulled out some roses. 'My Uncs wants me to put these roses in all the first class cars and I'm too busy already. Mind doing it for me?" he asked.

"Sure. Wait, these are…" Jexi said too late as they all started to feel woozy.

"You wanna go to first class. Not a problem." Sammy said as he dragged them all to said cabin. "Hope you're ready. You ain't gonna be pleased with where all of us are going though." he said closing the doors to the cabins.

Hope then woke up immediately. "Damn, sleeping gas in the roses. Though that was clever." he said as he felt something move outside the train. He opened a window to see the cars behind the first class cars all gone. "Did we just switch tracks?" Hope asked as the group began to wake up.

"What was that about picking rats?" Luffy asked.

"No! The car just switched tracks." Hope said.

"Well, if that is indeed true, than we are no longer heading to Luxurybelle." Layton said.

"Then, where's this train going anyway?" Flora asked.

"Whoa!" Sammy said as he ran down the car. "Everybody get ready to rock! The next stop is...Folsense! Come passengers! Let me hear ya scream!" Sammy shouted as he ran down the car.

HOLD IT!

Kanji then tackled Sammy to the ground.

"Uh, Kanji? After you say that, you aren't suppose to tackle the person." Naoto said.

"Sorry, just got some questions for this guy." Kanji said.

"Folsense, eh." Layton said looking at the ticket from the flat. "Of course! It seems our destination was staring us in the face all along."

"Wait, Sammy, why did you hit us with Sleeping gas?"

"Sleeping gas? What are ya talking about? I've been up in the engine room all day." Sammy said.

OBJECTION!

"Whoa, this aint a court, missy! I'm not on trial here." Sammy said.

"Wait, if Sammy was up in the engine room, then…" Indigo said running to the nearby closet to see a Sammy costume inside.

"Somebody was cosplayin me? Then he's gotta be the guy who gassed you." Sammy said as the train came to a halt. "But we worry later. Now we head into Folsense." Sammy said running out of the doors. 


	5. The Phantom Town of Folsense

The heroes got off the train one after another before looking at the photos of the town as it was in the past. As soon as they saw them, they heard ringing from the bell tower on the station. The heroes ran out the other end to see the eerie town that was lit. This was the Phantom Town known as Folsense.

"This is Folsense? Its like something out of a horror film." Luke said looking around.

Sugarcoat whipped out a travel guide. "While incredibly creepy, this town has a massive amount of wealth. Thanks to the gold mines that run in the northern part of the town." Sugarcoat said.

"Wow. She takes a boring tour and shortens it by a lot." Hope said.

"Well, no sense in standing here and gathering dust." Layton said. "We may as well head off. Does this town have a museum, I would like to start looking into the history of it." Layton said.

"Yes. Just a little north of the town actually." Sugarcoat said.

"Actually, would you mind if I head to the hotel? My head is hurting from the sleeping gas earlier." Flora said holding her head.

"I'll go with her." Indigo said. "She's been acting strange lately."

"I know you like Phoenix Wright, but you can't suspect every little thing. I'll take her up." Sunny said leading Flora to the hotel.

The team then explored around the town, learning of a vampire up in the castle and of the Von Herzen family itself.

"This reminds me of the Adam's family." Lemon Zest said doing the clap.

"Actually, we've already met a member of the Von Herzen family." Sunset said bringing up a portrait picture on her phone. "This guy look familiar?" she asked pointing to a short boy.

" Is that...Mr Beluga?" Luke asked.

"It turns out his real name if Francis Von Herzen. He left the town a long while back when something terrible was going down." Sunset said.

"Apparently 50 years ago, when a new vein of gold was discovered, weird things started to happen. Miners started to mysteriously die one after the other. People began to leave one after the other. Even the proprietor of the town Mr. Von Herzen himself was done it. His son, Anton is the only one living up there." Sugarcoat said.

"Also, I got a selfie of me with a cute goat picture." Pinkie said showing a pic with her and a symbol of a goat.

"Hmm." Layton thought. "I think I may have something. We need to go find Inspector Chelmey first."

Back at the hotel, the rest of the train had arrived, and Chelmey was walking about the lobby as the heroes arrived. "Ah. So you came." Chelmy said.

"Inspector, we need to have a look at that photo you confiscated earlier." Luke said.

"That. Well not a...oh." Chelmey said in surprise. "There seems to be a blasted hole in my pocket. Must have been when that rotten dog attacked me."

"So you spread the photo scraps all around town?" Sour Sweet said. "And now we have to waste time looking for them all?"

"Well, not all. A couple pieces stayed inside me pocket." Chelmey said giving them the pieces.

"So, why are you here? Any leads on the box theft?" Indigo asked.

"No leads on the box, but I'm getting close to finding the bloody culprit." Chelmey said. "I'm having my assistant Barton look into finding more clues around town." Chelmey said.

"Well, call us when you have it all figured out." Sunny said coming down the steps. "Flora just went to rest. So, where we going?"

The heroes then inspected the pieces, they traveled all across the town, looking for each of the individual pieces one by one till they came across the last one on an iron gate.

"14….15….16. That's all of them." Sci-Twi said.

"Now let's see what it is." Luke said rearranging the photos, forming a picture of the Elysian Box.

"So this is the box? Creepy. without the goat's head, it kinda looks like a frog of some king." Ranma said.

A sharp wind then blew, blowing away the photo scrap with the goat's eyes. "You just had to say it." Dan said.

"Well, guess this is all we'll have to go on for now." Ulrich said.

The heroes then came back to the hotel, seeing a large crowd gathered in the lobby including the woken Flora. "So glad you could make it. Take a seat." Chelmey said to the heroes. "I've just recently figured out who the culprit is."

"You did?" the heroes asked.

"Yes. It took some good old detective work. Now, the killer had to be someone who had easy access to the train and would have been to Folsense before. Now, some of you might be looking at Mr. Beluga, well turn them back. He told me he had business in London that day and his alibi checks out. No, our culprit is...Sammy Thunder!" Chelmey said.

Sammy was then seen in cuffs. "I already told ya, someone was dressing like me." Sammy said.

"A likely story, but you couldn't stand searching the town for the box so you went and killed the doc and took the box so you could sell it." Chelmey said.

"You horrible nephew! How dare you!" Mr. Beluga shouted.

OBJECTION!

Indigo had just gotten everyones attention. "For real this time."

"There's no way Sammy could have taken the box. But all we have is this photo." Luke said taking out the photo.

"So that's the box. Aw. What a cute little goat." Flora said as Indigo grinned. "Thanks Flora. I got all I need. Now then Inspector. The culprit in this case would have had to have seen the box and have it in their possession."

"Right. And I have the punk right here." Chelmey said pointing to Sammy.

"Sorry to say, but he's not the culprit." Layton said shocking everyone.

"The one who actually commited the crime… is you!" Indigo said jabbing her finger at Flora.

"What? Flora?" Luke said in surprise.

"Inspector, take a look at this photo." Indigo said showing Chelmey the photo. "So that's the box eh. Not my cup of tea with that weird frog design." he said as the others caught on.

"Indigo, youre a genius!" Sunny said.

"The Box doesn't depict a frog, but a goat." Indigo said.

"Goat? Not by my eyes it doesn't." Chelmey said.

"That's exactly what I mean. Tell me flora…" Indigo said jabbing her finger at Flora like Phoenix Wright. "... how exactly can you tell it was a goat without the piece with its eyes?"

Flora then began to snicker. "Nyehehe! Well played Layton and Indigo. I bet you feel oh so clever for seeing through my disguise again." Flora said.

Flora then began to remove her face, which was a mask. Underneath the costume was none other than Don Paolo. "Nyehehehe!" he laughed.

"Don Paolo!" Layton said.

"Wait, if he's here, where's the real Flora?" Luke asked.

"She's probably playing with the cows in that Dropstone barn I left her in. Or maybe she's fuming because you didn't realize it until now that we made the switch." Don Paolo laughed.

"I thought there was something strange." Indigo said.

"Yeah. I did take the box. Took it from the old guy when he was busy taking a nap on the floor." Don Paolo laughed.

"Taking a nap?" Applejack asked.

"And I gased all of you so I could have a clean alibi when they got to the conductor." Don Paolo said as Chelmey began to approach him. "So long Layton and Indigo Zap!" he said running out the door with Chelmey chasing after him.

"He got away again." Jexi said.

"Too bad he left behind the one thing he wanted." Hope said looking behind the potted plant and picking up the box itself. "Guess we was too busy running to notice he forgot the box."

"Splendid. Now, I think I'll be taking that." Mr. Beluga said.

"Not so fast. We need to see exactly what is in here."

"No! You not so fast. That box belongs to the Von Herzen family, meaning it is legally my property." Mr. Beluga said. "So, I'll ask again. Hand. It. Over."

HOLD IT!

Sugarcoat then got her history book. "it says you left town fifty years ago. That means you abandoned all claims on the box the moment you left." Sugarcoat said. "Which also means finder keepers."

Beluga reeled in shock. "Done in… by a blunt little technicality." Beluga said.

"Don't look so sad, uncs. Aren't you happy we can finally stop looking for that stupid box?" Sammy asked him. "Besides, now I can focus on my dream: being a super awesome rock star!"

"I suppose youre right, Samuel. We may as well retire to our room and get the train back to London first thing in the morning." Mr. Beluga said as they headed to their rooms.

"Indigo, that was amazing! Youre gonna do great along side in court." Fluttershy said.

"Thanks. Now, let's see how true the rumors are about this stupid box." Indigo said. She slowly began to open the box as they all braced themselves. But after a few moments, nothing happened as they saw the box was completely empty.

"Empty? Then what was the big secret that did in?"

"Well, there's only one thing left we can do: we'll have to go to Herzen Castle." Layton said. 


	6. An Encounter at the End of the Line

Our heroes soon began their trek up the path that lead to the Herzen castle as they climbed the large mountain. They soon arrived to said castle where a butler with pointed ears and sharp teeth came. "Welcome. How may I serve you?" he asked.

"We wish to see Anton Von Herzen." Hope said.

"Of course. Please follow me." he said leading them into the castle where they soon saw a young man with blond hair and a cape. "Ah. Guests. I welcome you to my home." he said.

The heroes then sat at a large table where they ate the food and discussed the box. "So, you say this box has the power to kill anyone who dare open it?" Anton asked them.

"We do, and we think since you are the other Von Herzen alive, we thought you might be able to-" Hope said.

"While it is true this box was a Von Herzen heirloom, I have since parted ways with it. Now, how about you all rest in the guest rooms. You all must be so tired after such a long trip here." ANton said.

That night as the heroes slept, they found themselves in a ballroom where they saw Anton dancing with a girl who bore a resemblance to Katia. It wasn't until the girl noticed the heroes that the dream started to break. Anton looked over towards them and began to laugh evilly.

Soon after, the heroes awoke in a wooden room, each of them tied up with their weapons missing from their persons. "Well, it seems you all didn't sleep well." Anton said.

"You, youre a mad man! Let us go!" Hope shouted.

"Sorry, but no. Now, I believe it is time to go. Besides, I need to rest before dinner." Anton said closing and locking the door behind him.

Indigo then broke free with her Guts armor. "Good thing I always wear it. At least he's respectful enough not to touch a woman." Indigo said as she untied the others.

The hereoes found a secret passage to the mines, bearing effects to a gas chamber.

"Whoa! I wouldn't wanna fall down there." Teddie said looking down.

"Can we just get out of here before that Anton guy comes back?" Lucy asked them.

They felt infulence of the gas, but made it back to the main room of the castle where they saw Katia entering. "Oh. What are all of you doing here?" she asked them.

"We need to get out of here. This guys a real vampire." Usopp said.

"He's not a vampire. He's just not in his right mind." Katia said. "Nevermind. You need to get out of here."

"Well, this is a surprise." Anton said walking down the steps. "It seems our guests didn't want to stay for dinner." Anton said before looking at Katia. "Could it be?" he said. "My sweet Sophia. You have come back to me." he said before seeing her run to Layton. "Ah. I see. I wasn't expecting this Layton. Not in the slightest." Anton said gripping his hands.

"Uh-oh. He's got that same look Juvia gets." Happy said.

"This is your fault! But you cannot have my Sophia!" he shouted drawing a sword and slashing at Layton who dodged too the right. "Hmm. Well, I'm a sporting man. You may take any of the weapons behind you there. But keep in mind, only one of those swords is real. A true warrior keeps his weapon in hand." Anton said.

"Now do you see why Juvia has all these visions?" Hope asked.

"Will you shut up already?" the heroes told Hope.

Layton acted quickly and grabbed a sword from a suit of armor as Anton clashed. "It appears I have underestimated you, Mr. Layton." Anton said.

The two then began clashing swords down the steps as they fought all across the room.

"Whoa. Awesome! Swordfight!" Rainbow said.

"Layton!" Anton shouted. "Sophia belongs to me! You can't have her!"

He thrusted as Layton as they fight continued up the stairs with the others following.

"This is getting out of hand! Edward, Alphonse, stop them!" Katia said.

"Sophia? Why are you…" Anton said.

"You haven't figured it out, have you?" Katia asked him. "I'm your granddaughter, Anton."

"But...but that's impossible. I'm too young to be anyone's grandfather." Anton said.

"That's not true. Anton, your age, much like this town is a illusion of your mind." Katia said.

"Allow me to explain. The gold mines that made Folsense famous was also their undoing." Layton began. "It would seem that the miners hit a vein of hallucinogenic gas while digging, leaving anyone who breathed it in open to liminal suggestions."

"Then when the box was opened by Dr. Shrader, he must have expected to die and it happened." Indigo said.

"That's part of the reason while grandmother left the town." Katia said.

"She and I were betrothed. Then she went and left me for another." Anton said.

"No. She loved you with all her heart Anton." Katia said.

"What?" Anton asked.

"She left because she wanted to protect the little life growing inside her." Katia said.

"I...I never knew." Anton said.

"Yes. Grandmother was carrying my mother, who died after giving birth to me. Grandmother passed away last year but she never stopped thinking about you." Katia said.

Anton was shocked by all of this. "My Sophia...is dead? No! I've had enough to hear with your lies!" he shouted slashing at the heroes in anger.

Edward then clapped his hands and blocked the slash with a wall, but the stone hit the chain of a chandelier, which sent it crashing down into the middle of the room, making the castle start to crumble.

"We need to go! The whole place is coming down!" Jexi shouted.

The castle then crumbled into nothing. Looking out onto the town, they saw as the lights began to go out one after another as they saw the aged Anton that stood before them.

"The mines must be blocked now, disrupting the gas flow, this…. is the true face of Anton Von Herzen and the town of Folsense." Layton said.

"So, I guess it was just an ordinary box after all." Luke said.

"I assure you, its much more than that. It actually has something special inside of it." Anton said.

"But the box is empty." Brook said.

"There's actually...a second way to open it." Anton said.

Luke solved a mechanism opening a secret compartment, revealing a letter.

"Oh dear." Anton said.

'What's wrong?" Erza asked.

"This isn't the letter I wrote. This is Sophia's handwriting. The box must have made it to her after all." Anton said as Sunset began reading it.

"My dearest Anton, I hope you are well. I know it has been painful since we parted ways with each other like we did. But I should let you know that every time I look at my granddaughter Katia, I am reminded of you. I hope this letter finds you well. Love, Sophia." Sunset read as Anton was crying a little. He then embraced Katia.

"Aw. Nothing like a happy ending." Pinkie said.

The heroes then departed for London on the train, Picking up flora on the way, who forgave them. But little did they know that once they make it back, their biggest adventure would soon begin.

to be continued in...Dimensional Heroes Legends: Professor Layton vs Ace Attorney

by Jexi and Hope 


End file.
